Effect of the Crystalline Phase Type on the Thermoluminescent Response of ZrO2 Due to Different Synthesis Methods

ZrO 2 samples were obtained using three different synthesis methods (Calcination, Co-precipitation and Hydrothermal). The samples were characterized to analyze the effect of the crystalline phase on their thermoluminescent (TL) and photoluminescent (PL) responses. The ZrO 2 phase was analyzed by X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman. Nanoparticle size distribution was obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For optical analysis, characterizations included absorbance measurements, where samples exhibited modifications in color centers, PL emission and experimental fluorescence lifetime decay ([Formula: see text] measurements. Additionally, their TL response was studied under UV (245[Formula: see text]nm and 385[Formula: see text]nm), and 6[Formula: see text]MV photon energy from LINAC excitation. The obtained results show the improvement of TL and PL properties due to ZrO 2 phase while an amorphous ZrO 2 synthesized by hydrothermal method is an excellent prospect to be used as TL material and it may be a promising scintillator material at 254[Formula: see text]nm.